Christmas has come early to the Artemis Laser Facility

The Artemis Laser group outside their soon-to-be new laser lab.
(Credit: STFC)

Christmas has come early to the Artemis Laser Facility at the Central Laser Facility (CLF), which is moving to a shiny new location at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL).

The move of Artemis across campus to the Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH) is a venture that brings the physics-focused science of Artemis to join the chemistry and biology-oriented lasers in Ultra and Octopus.

Professor Mike Towrie, CLF and Ultra Laser Group Leader, said, “I'm excited by the move of the Artemis facility to the Research Complex. I look forward to working much closer to the Artemis team. It will open new ideas and opportunities in the development of the facilities, and of course Artemis will finally benefit from the same access to the wonderful laboratory infrastructure in the Complex that Ultra and Octopus have enjoyed for the last seven years."

Following plans to update Artemis with better lab-space and a new laser, a brand new plant room has been built onto the side of the RCaH. Due to the need for safe transport of delicate equipment from one side of campus to the other, the CLF has a new buggy, which will play a vital role in moving Artemis to its new home.

The news of the move was announced to the user community at the Artemis and Research Complex User Meeting in November 2017. At this meeting, Professor Towrie, Professor Marisa Martin-Fernandez (Head of Octopus) and Doctor Emma Springate (Head of Artemis) spoke on the three individual lasers and how they support biology, chemistry and physics in a range of ways.

Following these talks, scientists and students alike remarked how it was interesting to see what the other fields of science were working on. This insight into 'how the other half (or third, to be exact) lives' strengthens collaboration, awareness and esteem between biology, chemistry and physics. Bringing the three facilities together under one roof in the RCaH will give many further opportunities to share techniques across the three sciences and generate new ideas.

Abstract from the Artemis, Ultra and Octopus annual group meeting last year: